Bad or Burnt Exhaust smell in cabin during hard acceleration.

[stillmarried]

We have our usual hill that we climb when we come into town, and while one drives; the other pulls out the CO meter to see what the CO readings inside the cabin are. In both the 2015 and 2017, the typical range was a low of 4 up to 17 ppm CO. One concern was that sometimes get the exhaust odor and a high CO reading, other times we smelled exhaust, but we did not get a high reading on the CO meter, and other times we did not smell exhaust and get the 17 ppm on the meter. Well today, we recorded a reading of 114 ppm CO on the meter, but did not get the exhaust odor in the cabin. I took a picture of the screen on the meter to show the dealer. Last year when I tested the meter, this 114 ppm CO was about the reading I got right at the exhaust pipe. I contacted the dealer last week to see what Ford repair was available since the recent 17N03 service did not fix the problem, and the dealer did not have any updates from Ford at this time.
Oh well, good thing my Ford stock only went down 7% this week.
I am going to try Black Eyed's suggestion to cover the fresh air intake louvers to see of the smell goes away. Will report back.

 

[247hoopsfan]

My local ford dealer told me 2018 explorer does not have this smell issue. But I doubt it. Does anyone still have this issue with 2018 explorer? Thanks.

Yes, I have a 2018 and I have noticed the smell. I have the 2.3 Ecoboost.
I am just seeing this thread now, have 1700 miles on it. I have not read all the comments.
Is there a recall on th8s issue? By the way, I my $47,000 Explorer is also leaking transmission fluid. This is a company vehicle, and I can’t get any dealer in the SF Bay Area to get me in for 2 weeks. Great Flleet service from Ford.....

 

[peterk9]

Yes, I have a 2018 and I have noticed the smell. I have the 2.3 Ecoboost.
I am just seeing this thread now, have 1700 miles on it. I have not read all the comments.
Is there a recall on th8s issue? By the way, I my $47,000 Explorer is also leaking transmission fluid. This is a company vehicle, and I can’t get any dealer in the SF Bay Area to get me in for 2 weeks. Great Flleet service from Ford.....

No 'Recall' but there is a thread here on this issue but I don't know if it covers the 2018 models. Ford offers free repairs to 1.4 Million Explorers - Exhaust

Peter

 

[247hoopsfan]

No 'Recall' but there is a thread here on this issue but I don't know if it covers the 2018 models. Ford offers free repairs to 1.4 Million Explorers - Exhaust

Peter

Yes, I saw that thread. When I finally get in to have the fluid leak fixed I’ll ask about the smell.

 

[Explorer XLT 17]

Yes, I saw that thread. When I finally get in to have the fluid leak fixed I’ll ask about the smell.

As to your Tranny fluid leak, my 2017 was leaking as well. It was caused by a loose fitting into the transmission. Service manger stated he has seen quite a few in for this problem. Hopefully yours will be the same.

 

[247hoopsfan]

As to your Tranny fluid leak, my 2017 was leaking as well. It was caused by a loose fitting into the transmission. Service manger stated he has seen quite a few in for this problem. Hopefully yours will be the same.

Thanks, I hope it is something as simple as a loose fitting. I will mention it to the Service Advisor, I have an appointment 2/14. I am still noticing a burnt exhaust smell after acceleration. My wife was in the car with me yesterday and she smelled it. I just know it can't be healthy
air with that smell. You would think Ford would have this generation Explorer figured out by now....

 

[swtbrad]

I took my 2017 explorer to the dealer today for the 17N03 repair after experiencing the exhaust smell in the cabin and and 26 ppm on a CO meter. The dealer completed the repairs and after two test drives I have not had the smell or registered anything on the CO meter.

 

[peterk9]

I took my 2017 explorer to the dealer today for the 17N03 repair after experiencing the exhaust smell in the cabin and and 26 ppm on a CO meter. The dealer completed the repairs and after two test drives I have not had the smell or registered anything on the CO meter.

Welcome to the Forum.
Good news!

Peter

 

[dx492]

I took my 2017 explorer to the dealer today for the 17N03 repair after experiencing the exhaust smell in the cabin and and 26 ppm on a CO meter. The dealer completed the repairs and after two test drives I have not had the smell or registered anything on the CO meter.

Would you please share what CO monitor you have? I bought a basic $20 unit that lacks digital readout; would like to get a better one. Thanks.

 

[dx492]

I had the "Customer Satisfaction Program" 17N03 completed on my 2017 3.5L 4WD LTD Explorer (3900 miles). I still smell something on hard acceleration. I brought it to the dealer today, and they said that if Ford will approve it, they'll replace the muffler.

I've found two TSB's related to this: 16-0166 and 17-0044 (in addition to the 17N03 program--is there a separate TSB associated with 17N03?). Both TSB's advise to replace the muffler with one that has down-facing exhaust ports if the initial procedure fails to fix the problem.

I've got zero confidence that this will make any difference. I'm fairly confident that the issue is that exhaust is leaking into the engine compartment and getting into the fresh air intake.

Have people had success with just getting 17N03 and also having the muffler replaced?

 

[HamHands]

I'm going to tell everyone here what finally eradicated the Wide Open Throttle response/carbon monoxide, "Smell" in the cabin... The problem exists because the stock engine/tune runs too damned rich! For those that don't know what that means do some research on what: "Running Rich" in an internal combustion engine means... I got an "SSI" Performance 93 Tune Computer Tuner Kit; installed it... and no more stink. It leaned out the mixture to say it simple! The "Tune" leaned out the mixture of fuel to air ratio and I literally have zero cabin smell under wide open throttle. I gained probably 75+ horses and even more torque... all the while gaining 1.1 miles per gallon as well; and the Explorer Sport runs like it should have from the factory... FAST! I smell no more of the toxic crap anymore and I'm enjoying the Sport Truck the way she should be now.

 

[stillmarried]

I'm going to tell everyone here what finally eradicated the Wide Open Throttle response/carbon monoxide, "Smell" in the cabin... The problem exists because the stock engine/tune runs too damned rich! For those that don't know what that means do some research on what: "Running Rich" in an internal combustion engine means... I got an "SSI" Performance 93 Tune Computer Tuner Kit; installed it... and no more stink. It leaned out the mixture to say it simple! The "Tune" leaned out the mixture of fuel to air ratio and I literally have zero cabin smell under wide open throttle. I gained probably 75+ horses and even more torque... all the while gaining 1.1 miles per gallon as well; and the Explorer Sport runs like it should have from the factory... FAST! I smell no more of the toxic crap anymore and I'm enjoying the Sport Truck the way she should be now.

Appreciate you providing this info. I looked up the website for SSI, but it is over my head; will need to do some studying.

 

[peterk9]

Getting rid of the 'smell' doesn't mean that carbon monoxide isn't still entering the cabin since it is odourless. If the exhaust smell was there at one time then that indicates there are openings that allowed it to enter the cabin.

Peter

 

[Mbrooks420]

Peter is exactly right. The problem isn’t really the smell, it’s the intrusion of gassed into the cabin. Even with an extremely clean burn there’s CO in the exhaust.

Besides, I don’t think a true solution is having to run 93 octane. I’d be willing to bet running leaner, and at 75 more HP the longevity of the motor, and other components like the PTU would be reduced as well.

 

[stillmarried]

Peter is exactly right. The problem isn’t really the smell, it’s the intrusion of gassed into the cabin. Even with an extremely clean burn there’s CO in the exhaust.

Besides, I don’t think a true solution is having to run 93 octane. I’d be willing to bet running leaner, and at 75 more HP the longevity of the motor, and other components like the PTU would be reduced as well.

Peter: I will use my carbon monoxide data logger to see if CO goes away after I install this SSI tune.
Mbrooks420: In the SSI forum, it shows the second part of the tune is selecting octane to use, so I will select the 87 octane.
I will do another 6 months of testing once I get things set up, and report back.

 

[CommandPresence]

I'd like to let everyone know I put 9k miles on an 18' XLT after trading in my 14' Interceptor SUV...................I still get an exhaust smell on heavy accel. As it's also going in for an oil leak, this will also be part of the diagnosis.

 

[CommandPresence]

Ford is flying engineers to the dealership this week to inspect my '18. I'll keep you posted.

 

[CommandPresence]

Ford is flying engineers to the dealership this week to inspect my '18. I'll keep you posted.

Update, see attached letter from Ford after and Engineer was flown out to inspect my 2018 with 10k miles on it. Vehicle was driven about 40 minutes for the testing.

 

[n0sql]

I had the "Customer Satisfaction Program" 17N03 completed on my 2017 3.5L 4WD LTD Explorer (3900 miles). I still smell something on hard acceleration. I brought it to the dealer today, and they said that if Ford will approve it, they'll replace the muffler.

I've found two TSB's related to this: 16-0166 and 17-0044 (in addition to the 17N03 program--is there a separate TSB associated with 17N03?). Both TSB's advise to replace the muffler with one that has down-facing exhaust ports if the initial procedure fails to fix the problem.

I've got zero confidence that this will make any difference. I'm fairly confident that the issue is that exhaust is leaking into the engine compartment and getting into the fresh air intake.

Have people had success with just getting 17N03 and also having the muffler replaced?

Hey there. I got the exhaust replaced with the revised downward tips but the smell is still there. Not sure what to do at this point.

 

[613GT500]

Hey there. I got the exhaust replaced with the revised downward tips but the smell is still there. Not sure what to do at this point.

What are you actually smelling?
Exhaust fumes or rotten eggs?